Carlos Rodon will take the mound on Friday for the first time since throwing a complete game with 12 strikeouts against Duke on April 28. The freshman took last weekend’s sweep of CSU Bakersfield off to prepare for his move to Friday night. The start will mark the first since Rodon was named to Team USA on May 2, and the Golden Spikes Award Midseason watch list on May 1.

Shortstop Chris Diaz enters the weekend on a tear, batting .509 (27-53) in his last 13 games with 14 RBIs, 17 runs, and 12 extra-base hits. The hot streak has vaulted Diaz into a tie for the ACC hits lead (73) with Florida State’s Jayce Boyd. State has built an 11-2 record since Diaz moved to the number two spot in the Wolfpack batting order on April 15.

With only seven regular season games remaining on the Pack schedule, freshman Trea Turner will need to pick up his pace to catch Brian Roberts’s record of 63 stolen bases in a season. Turner stole a pair on Tuesday to climb to 45-for-47 on the season, good for the national lead by a margin of six, and 27 over his nearest ACC competition.

Turner and Rodon represent a pair of the highly respected freshman class partly responsible for the Wolfpack’s national ranking. State holds a 26-7 record when starting four or more freshman, and sits 9-2 when starting five.

The Pack leads 34-12-1 in the all-time series with the Hokies, winning the last meeting 10-9 in the 2010 ACC Tournament. The last time NC State visited Blacksburg, the Wolfpack took two of three in 2008.

Radio coverage for the weekend will be provided by 88.1 WKNC, fans can follow Twitter updates from @NCStateBaseball, and live stats will be available on GoPack.com.